
On this page are drawings from children awaiting asylum at the U.S. border in Matamoros, Mexico. They drew their experiences as part of an art project by Dr. Belinda Arriaga, an associate professor at the University of San Francisco who specializes in child trauma and Latino mental health. “Their drawings become their voice,” Arriaga says. “When they started handing me one-by-one their pieces, it was really jolting to see what they were drawing… the drawings help us understand the trauma that this country is inflicting on them.” Dr. Arriaga traveled to Matamoros in October, 2019 as part of a group of volunteers who provided aid and psychological care to migrant children and their families.